Frequently Asked Questions

Sigrid Rausing Trust - Grant Application Procedure
Frequently Asked Questions

• Who can apply for a grant and what kinds of activities do you support?

Please review our programmes and our current grantees and if you feel that your organisation and proposed activities meet the Trust’s priorities, you can submit a grant enquiry form.

• Do we have to be a registered charity in order to apply?

No. However, as a registered charity itself, the Trust can only support activities that can be properly considered to be charitable according to the law of England and Wales (Charities Act 2006). For more information please consult the Charity Commission’s website at http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/publicbenefit/pbsummary.asp

• Do you give grants to individuals?

No

• Does the Trust fund religious or faith based organisations?

No

• Do you have a scholarship fund?

No. Some grants do provide, as part of a larger project, scholarship support for particular vulnerable groups such as refugees.

• Does the Trust have geographical grant making restrictions?

No

• Does the Trust accept requests for in kind donations?

No

• Do you fund capital projects?

No

• Will the Trust consider loans?

No

• Can an organisation apply for both project and core funding?

The Trust has on occasion awarded grants to cover both core and project costs, although such cases are rare. Most of our grants are either for project or core funding.

Application process

• What is the process for applying for a grant?

If your organisation and proposed activities meet the Trust’s priorities, the first step is to submit a grant enquiry form.

Programme staff reviews all enquiries and we will write to you to either reject your enquiry, or inform you about an invitation to apply which is made by the Trustees at their discretion. Upon such invitation, you will be able to submit a full application for consideration at one of the Trustee meetings which are held three times per year.

• Does the Sigrid Rausing Trust require that a grant enquiry form be submitted before a formal proposal/application?

Yes, interested organisations must first submit a grant enquiry form.

• How much in advance do I need to put in an enquiry?

All enquires are reviewed on a rolling basis. However, if you are successfully invited to make a full application, please note that Trustees consider grant applications under each sub-programme once a year.

• What programme should I send my enquiry to?

Please indicate one thematic programme – Civil and Political Rights, Women’s Rights, Social and Environmental Justice or Minority Rights - that most closely accords with your proposed work. No enquiries are accepted for the Trust’s Miscellaneous Fund.

• Can we meet with someone to discuss a possible proposal?

We are afraid we won’t be able to discuss a possible proposal in person before you submit a grant enquiry form by e-mail. If your organisation’s activities are of interest to the Trust, programme staff may contact you - please do not contact the Trust.

• Can I apply for multiple projects in the same year? Can we submit more than one grant enquiry at a time?

Please only submit one enquiry form at a time.

• What are your grant enquiry deadlines?

Grant enquiries can be submitted at any time.

• Can I send any supporting documentation with the enquiry form?

There is no need to submit any additional documents when you send an enquiry.

• When are applicants notified of decisions?

For enquiries, you will receive an initial response as soon as possible. Full full applications, the Trust considers these under its sub-programmes once each year. It may therefore take up to a year for a final decision to be taken.

• What is an appropriate request amount? Is there a maximum grant size?

There is no minimum or maximum amount. Please note that it would be unusual for the Trust to support more than 25% of the costs of an organisation or a project.

• My organisation sent in an unsolicited letter of enquiry when the Trust’s application process was closed; should we resend it?

Please resend your enquiry using the grant enquiry form.

Types of funding

• Does the Trust offer multi-year grants?

The Trust does offer multi-year grants (of up to three years), however only to grantees with which we have an established relationship. Organisations which have not previously received funding from the Trust would normally be considered only for a one-year grant

• What is the Trust’s philosophy on working with organisations that are in a start-up phase?

The Trust values new initiatives highly – please feel free to submit an enquiry

• Do you give emergency grants?

Under exceptional circumstances, the trust can also provide Emergency Funds, as a response to a sudden human rights crisis or in order to protect human rights defenders – upon a recommendation by an existing grantee, another funding agency, or a contact in the field.

Rejections

• We recently submitted a grant enquiry form which was turned down, can you tell me why?

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide feedback on individual enquiries.

• If we have been rejected, how soon are we able to submit another grant enquiry?

Normally, if an enquiry is rejected, applicants may submit a new enquiry upon the expiry of 12 months from their previous one.